Our European Future?

Cash-strapped governments in Europe are looking to properties owned by the Roman Catholic Church as a source of revenue . This troubles me in at least two ways. First of all, the more functions the government takes on, the greater its need for revenue. If, having exhausted its individual and . . . . Continue Reading »

Have You Had Your Colonoscopy?

In all the disparaging of preventive medical screenings we have seen recently, the efficacy of colonoscopies remains (mostly) unchallenged. But my dad died of colon cancer—partly because of utter negligence by the Veteran’s Administration in doing proper testing when he presented . . . . Continue Reading »

On the Square Today

Peter J. Leithart on the nude in a pornographic age : We live in a pornographic age that falls dismally short of creating what Pope Paul VI called a “climate favorable to education in chastity.” But we misconstrue the problem if we worry only about the sheer number of unclothed bodies, . . . . Continue Reading »

First Links — 9.14.12

Paint-by-Number Hymns Anthony Esolen, Crisis Third Century Roman Martyrs . . . Interred in Kentucky Shawn Tribe, New Liturgical Movement Tony Campolo’s Power Delusion Nathaniel Torrey, Juicy Ecumenism Robots at War Don Throop, Chronicle of Higher Education A More Religious World in the 21st . . . . Continue Reading »

Republicans: Character Counts

Pete Spiliakos has been complaining about Romney’s performance at the Republican convention and about the lack of definition and specification of policy in convention speakers as a whole .  It didn’t bother me.  I figured that the next week and all through the fall, Romney, . . . . Continue Reading »

‘God, Like Alfred Hitchcock …’

“God,” I said, “like Alfred Hitchcock, vouchsafes us only glimpses of Himself. I have often thought of this. And also that we make a game of trying to spot Him in this scene and then that, till we’ve squandered the revelation of the whole instead of simply accepting and . . . . Continue Reading »

Public Diplomacy in the Middle East

We know a lot more now than we did yesterday when I wrote my first response to the horrific events in Cairo and Benghazi. We know, for example, that Cairo embassy’s twitter post was issued before the violence unfolded in front of and on the embassy grounds. To be sure, we have to suspect . . . . Continue Reading »